Raising CO2 Levels in the Ocean

[john675]

I saw this article today, from National Geographic, on the rapid increase in the ocean water acidity. Things are worse than expected, but it is unclear to me what impact it has on oysters in salt water. They specifically mention a negative impact on mussels. What's bad for the mussels is bad for the oysters? It does not mention specific impacts on freshwater species, but one would presume that increased CO2 in freshwater may also lead to increased carbonic acid and increased acidity.

National Geographic Acidic Oceans article

[J Marcus]

Yes--it's quite true and it applies to all shelly sea creatures. To quote my own post of 6-9-2008 in the Pearl Industry News Forum here on PG:

"I would advise everyone who has any interest in salt water pearls to find, purchase and read the last issue of the science magazine Discover. There is a report in it about the acidification of the worlds oceans. It seems that the oceans have been soaking up huge amounts of CO2 since the industrial era began. Although it has slowed down the onset of global warming tremendously, all that CO2 creates carbonic acid in water. As the oceans acidify they are all too rapidly moving towards a point at which all marine organisms that have calcereous (with calcium) shells will no longer be able to form or maintain their shells. Among all the creatures that this will affect, such as crabs, sea urchins, much of the plankton, etc. are the "oysters," mussels, snails, clams etc.that form the pearls that we love so much. There have already been localized upwellings of acidic seawater that have been strong enough to damage shells. Assuming that we would survive such profound ecological changes, we would do so without saltwater pearls!!!"

...and the more recent post by GemGeek of 11-11-2008 in the same forum here:

"There is a new report from Oceana on ocean acidification, "ACID TEST: Can We Save Our Oceans from CO2?" Look for the link that says "ACID TEST".

Aside from being a great report, deep into the article, there is one of my photographs from Australia!
http://www.oceana.org/north-america/home/ "

This is a very serious problem, possibly more dangerous than the "warming" part of global warming.

For those who think that this is important enough to do something about, then I would suggest that, among many other possibilities, that they look up the following:

http://www.culturequake.org/Culturequake/Home/Home.html and

http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/

to learn about the problem and possibilities for fixing it. Among other things one can do is send letters to your political representatives, no matter where you live, and demand action to reverse the rise in atmospheric CO2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For all of us that earn our living or even part of our living from pearls, I would strongly suggest that we find a way to donate a healthy percentage of our earnings to organizations that are working to stop and, hopefully reverse, the conditions that are leading, faster than even the worst case predictions, to the acidification of our oceans.

[GemGeek]

It's a good sign that it's getting some press.

[MABE BRAZIL]

There are some researcher doing many things about biomineralisation in fresh water mussel. And their findings could explain how this new facts could affect shell formation. Only to cite one of these person

J. MACHADO at Institute de Ciencias Biomedicas Abel Salazar, Oporto, Portugal, published at J. exp. Biol. 150, 159-169 (1990) 159 his work intitled THE ACID-BASE BALANCE OF THE OUTER MANTLE EPITHELIUM OF ANODONTA CYGNEA

I could not send you the pdf version because is to big to post it here. But if some one have interest, please email me.

Regards

[john675]

Ack - I missed the previous postings by Marcus and Blaire, but I know even more now about CO2 levels in sea water. Thanks for pointing me to the previous postings.

I agree that we have to do something about worldwide CO2 emissions. I'm hopeful that the US can at last work together with other countries to have a consistent policy to address the emissions.
John

[Ashley]

Scientists have been sounding the warning bells for over a decade now about this danger (also Google "methane pockets ocean"- for a scary couple of entries!!) but the ocean is such a complex environment that progress in dealing with such a massive problem is naturally going to be slow.

"Give me half a tanker of iron, and I’ll give you an ice age” - John Martin, Moss Landing Marine Laboratory

There are a few existing companies out there on the technological edge trying to innovate new ways of dealing with the increasing levels of CO2 in our waters. One that I recently heard of: "Planktos" had run with the idea of seeding the oceans with iron which encourages plankton growth or blooms, which in turn would "eat" or absorb the CO2 found in the water... I believe they were planning this adventure around the Galapagos Islands, but were stopped by watchdog groups, environmentalists and others from carrying out their plan.

While this type of experimentation sounds extreme in the least, it should be noted that small scale experimentation with iron seeding has been taking place all over the world for the last 10 years or so with varying degrees of success. Although I am concerned about the possible effects of "iron overdose" in the smaller animals at the bottom of the food chain in the ecosystem, I think the idea is radical, innovative and deserves further experimentation...

[GemGeek]

That's fascinating, Ashley!

[J Marcus]

I agree that we have to do something about worldwide CO2 emissions. I'm hopeful that the US can at last work together with other countries to have a consistent policy to address the emissions.
John

It has been said, I can't remember by whom, that "If the people will lead, the politicians will follow." Don't expect any government to do anything substantial to turn this mess around without tremendous pressure from it's citizens. Write the President, write your congress people, write your senators, write your governer, write anyone who might have some power, even a little, to do something about this problem. Write them often. Demand that they do something about Global Warming starting yesterday. If you want to really get their attention, then sit down and type or write your letter on paper and send it by snail mail. Few do anymore and those who do get noticed. The institutional excuses that it will take too long to convert to sustainable energy systems or that it can't really be done because: (pick one) A. The science to produce these fuels/power isn't far enough along; B. It will cost too much and we're already in an economic mess; C. It will take too long to produce this new infrastructure; The fuels/electricity will be too expensive to be cost effective; are pure bunk. Right now there are several systems for recycling anything organic (carbon based and already out on the surface of the earth and part of the active carbon cycle) into oil, one of a couple of types of alcohol, butane or other fuels are up, functioning, turning out and selling fuel at competitive prices. One of these, for example, Changing World Technologies, has a large plant producing bio-diesel using a two-step, self-fueled process from the offal from poultry processing operations in Carthage Missouri. They found that they were able to make a profit at oil prices of less than $40.00 per barrel. Look them up at:

http://www.changingworldtech.com/

There are other systems that are being purchased and used now by the U. S. military. See The Energy Blog.

On the other side of the problem, carbon sequestration, there are many, many things that are available right now, that if implemented could put us on the fast track to both reversing Global Warming and making us, or almost any nation, energy independent. MIT announced a few weeks ago that they have discovered that simply by bubbling the exhaust from power plants through sea water, 90% of the CO2 is removed. Furthermore, it turns out that this process also creates a kind of cement that can be used to replace much of the huge quantities Portland Cement now being produced by heating powdered limestone to about 3000 degrees, thereby releasing immense quantities of CO2. This causes a double whammy so that there is a net gain in CO2 reduction by this process. There are many other processes to scrub CO2, many of them quite reasonable in cost. Some years ago I read that the CO2 being released into the atmosphere could be fully sequestered by re-foresting an area the size of California. I suppose that now we might have to add Washington and Oregon to that...... All of these things are in the public record. Look them up. A good starting place would be the two links I posted earlier. Another company that is doing a lot of good work in this (and many other areas) is Idealabs. Look them up at: http://www.idealab.com/ .

For your children, your childrens children, for your own best interest, do something. I'm not being histrionic. This problem is real and it is happening faster than anyone imagined it possibly could.

[Amrita]

For your children, your childrens children, for your own best interest, do something. I'm not being histrionic. This problem is real and it is happening faster than anyone imagined it possibly could.

How about us PGers forming an activist group of our own to take action on this issue, how so ever we can and where ever we are......?

[J Marcus]

How about us PGers forming an activist group of our own to take action on this issue, how so ever we can and where ever we are......?

Both this thread and the "Green Pearls Brands" thread in the "Pearling Industry News" forum seem to be heading in the same direction. Perhaps a new thread should be started to address "Pearl Activism!"???
Good Idea, I think I'll start it! I think that the "Pearling Industry News" forum would be appropriate.

[Amrita]

Great idea! It is always better to take small steps towards a solution, rather than just talk about a problem!

[john675]

The iron seeding is fascinating - I had not read about it before. It seems "possible" it could be effective in removing "billions of tons" of carbon from the atmosphere. I haven't found a reference specific to the ocean CO2 levels, but it stands to reason if you reduce the atmospheric CO2 you would shift the equilibrium and have CO2 released back into the atmosphere (to be absorbed by all that rapidly growing phytoplankton).

Marcus is certainly right - it takes many voices and we all have the opportunity to speak up to make a difference.
John